TCU Men's Basketball Upsets No. 6 Kansas in an orderly fashion
It was definitely a David versus Goliath match-up. Nobody was expecting the Horned Frogs to pull off two wins back-to-back against two AP Top 10 teams.
Mike Miles scored 19 points to lead the TCU men’s basketball team to a 74-64 victory over No. 6 Kansas Tuesday night in Schollmaier Arena.
It marked the first time in the history of the program that the Frogs (19-9, 8-8) defeated AP Top 25 teams in consecutive games, having beaten No. 9 Texas Tech on Saturday.
Miles was 6-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range, and had a team-high six assists.
Postgame, Miles stated what the team needs to do to stay level-headed:
“We’ve just got to stay level-headed. We’ve got to go back to their place and play them again in 48 hours. We know these two wins mean a lot but we just got to stay the same way – stay aggressive, still be the underdogs. We're still the underdogs no matter who we beat. That’s just our mindset going into these last few games and going into the tournament.”
The first half is always a tough battle. The Horned Frogs came out hitting as Miles led his team with nine points at the half. TCU controlled the glass, too, as they led 20-14, but what gave Kansas the lead was their 3-point shooting to close out the half.
TCU came out and owned the second half! It got sparked by a size up 3-pointers from Miles. Then TCU got a defensive stop on Kansas, and Xavier Cork drove and stepped through with a nasty two-hand finish. The crowd was electric after that. When it happened, it was like the spirit of the high-ranked Kansas basketball team left Schollmaier early!
Earlier in the game, Cork had an incredible block late in the first half that sent the ball into the stands. The block would become #10 on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 for the night:
An underrated spotlight was TCU post-play tonight from Eddie Lampkin and Cork. Lampkin recorded a game-high nine rebounds. Cork made 4-of-5 field goals, tying a season-high for makes. Cork recorded five rebounds, his most in nine games. Lampkin put the clamps on Kansas' elite big man, David McCormack. He finished with 11 points with seven of those points from the free-throw line, but only shot 2-6 from the field. He only grabbed eight rebounds. TCU's big man definitely made life tough in the paint.
Emanuel Miller talked about Lampkin's defense post-game:
“I got Ed every single day of the day. I talked about contagious. Eddie's energy is contagious. He sets the bar for this team. He's a big part of the reason why we're winning games. His energy is unmatched. No matter who he's going against, I know every single night he's gonna give 100% of his effort. And I feed off of him, Mike feeds off him, we all feed off him. We’re very grateful that he’s part of this program.”
This Horned Frog team is clicking as they get closer to tournament time. Miller and Damion Baugh responded to what is Jamie Dixon's consistent message in the locker room, “Keep a chip on our shoulder,” said Baugh. Then Miller stated, “8th. We were picked 8th. We will never forget that. In the summer, we knew that going in and we’re responding. We’re stepping up to the plate.”
Baugh finished with 11 points, as did Miller.
TCU dominated the rebounding effort, 47-35, and had a season-low seven turnovers.
The Horned Frogs goal is reduce the number of turnovers each game. Their goal, per Dixon, is to have 12 or fewer per game. Baugh did his part and did not have one turnover in the game. He had this to say about the turnovers:
“It’s a big priority. What we do 12 turnovers a game? Seven today? I know if I don’t have none, s***, we’re going to beat 12. You’ve got to take care of the ball.”
There's something to be said for some postgame court storming, especially when it's the second time it's done in four days:
Next Up: TCU will play at No. 6 Kansas on Thursday at 7 p.m. on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
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